Who is you? Who are you?

Question

Do you agree that "Who is you" and "Who are you" mean different things? I hear some say that "Who is you" is wrong. But why is it wrong?

Who are you? - "Who" is focused on the qualities or capacities inherent in "you"?

Who is you? - "Who" is focused on other entities/people among whom there is you.

What do you think of "who is you?" Can it be used?

I already flagged your question as a duplicate and downvoted it. — , Jun 16 '22 at 09:20
@PrimeMover Well, when I flag the question, I found that three other users flagged this question as a duplicate, too. So if it's not a duplicate, I don't know what counts as one. — , Jun 16 '22 at 11:02
@Eden0516 Because you're not the only one who is wrong, obviously. One question asks "why is 'who are you' correct?" This one asks (effectivley) "are there any usages of `who is you?' that are correct?" Different question, but requires the reader to appreciate that degree of subtlety. — Prime Mover, Jun 16 '22 at 12:30
@PrimeMover Wow, so four of us are all wrong, and you are the only one correct? — , Jun 16 '22 at 13:34
@PrimeMover "One question asks "why is 'who are you' correct?" This one asks (effectively) "are there any usages of `who is you?' that are correct?"" They mean the same!!! It's like asking "What's the definition of 'apple'?" and "'apple'? What does it mean?" — , Jun 16 '22 at 13:36
@Eden0516 Yes, that is frequently how it goes. Majority thinking is not necessarily correct thinking. Thought everybody knew that. — Prime Mover, Jun 16 '22 at 13:37
@PrimeMover "Majority thinking is not necessarily correct thinking." Yes, that's true! But like I mentioned in this comment, the "subtle" difference is so "subtle" that the OP should be able to find the answer according to that question. — , Jun 16 '22 at 13:39
@PrimeMover The questions are impossible to be the same, of course!!! But they're similar. The "subtle" difference doesn't matter at all!!! — , Jun 16 '22 at 13:42
Wow, so four of us are all wrong, and you are the only one correct? - No, he is not the only one correct. I disagree with you four too. — user1425, Jun 16 '22 at 15:53
"The "subtle" difference doesn't matter at all!!! "- That's just an opinion of one man, but not mine. — user1425, Jun 16 '22 at 15:54
@Eden0516 I can see you feel very strongly about this. I can't imagine why. — Prime Mover, Jun 16 '22 at 17:08
"Who is you" may be valid. For example A: there are many actors playing us teachers". B: Ah, who is you?" "Who are you" would be the reverse. — BillJ, Jun 16 '22 at 17:15
@user1425 Of course you'll disagree with us! Prime Mover stand out for you! And most importantly, who would like his/her question being closed? — , Jun 16 '22 at 23:34
@PrimeMover "I can see you feel very strongly about this." No, I'm very calm. "Subtle" difference doesn't matter! — , Jun 16 '22 at 23:36
@user1425 ""The "subtle" difference doesn't matter at all!!! "- That's just an opinion of one man, but not mine." Wow! I can't believe that you are unable to know the answer from that post! Maybe your logical reasoning ability has some problem... — , Jun 17 '22 at 00:32
@BillJ Yes, and I also believe that "who is you" occurs sometimes in AAVE (with the meaning of "who are you" in "standard" English). — MarcInManhattan, Jun 18 '22 at 03:10

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 16 '22 at 07:13

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There is a usage in which "Who is you" can be valid.

For example (a little contrived, but I can't think of anything else):

"You need to be ready to protect us against the bad guys."

"Who is `you' in this context? Surely you are specifically addressing the law enforcers here?"

answered Jun 16 '22 at 07:13

Prime Mover

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Don't you think that "I don't know who you are" and "I don't know who is you" mean different things? – user1425 Jun 16 '22 at 10:45
Yes of course they do. Don't you? – Prime Mover Jun 16 '22 at 12:28
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I think this answer is misleading. The only reason Who is `you' in this context? is a valid utterance is because it's a *mention* (as opposed to *use) of the token 'you'. Which you've quite correctly enclosed in 'scare quotes' to indicate the non-syntactic mention of the 'symbol', but you haven't called attention to the fact that almost any* sequence of words can validly occur in English if we allow the inclusion of 'scare-quoted mentions'. – FumbleFingers Jun 16 '22 at 12:49
I agree with FumbleFingers. It's like someone asks you can I say "I is correct"? And you replied yes, in the following situation: A: "Which answer is correct? "I" or "He"?" B: Oh, "I" is correct. "A" is asking whether the be verb is is used correct!!! – Jun 16 '22 at 13:49
There are people at the party. I am talking to someone on the phone and have never seen them before. Why is it wrong to say? "I want to find you. But who is you among all the guests?" – user1425 Jun 16 '22 at 15:56
@user1425, no, your example sentence is not correct. We would say, "But who are you among all the guests." The only exception is the one FumbleFingers mentioned, where "you" is used like a name. – Juhasz Jun 16 '22 at 16:09
Juhasz, why is it then that "Which one of them is you?" correct? Why not "Which one of them are you?" – user1425 Jun 16 '22 at 16:54
@user1425 take a look at this: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/145519/which-one-is-you-vs-which-one-are-you, which, coincidentally, FumbleFingers answered. – Juhasz Jun 16 '22 at 17:16
1 Who are you? = You are Jack. 2 Who is you? = Jack is you. – user1425 Feb 19 '23 at 08:35

Who is you? Who are you?

1 Answers1